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A Warning for God’s People

20 “Make this announcement to Israel,[a]
    and say this to Judah:
21 Listen, you foolish and senseless people,
    with eyes that do not see
    and ears that do not hear.
22 Have you no respect for me?
    Why don’t you tremble in my presence?
I, the Lord, define the ocean’s sandy shoreline
    as an everlasting boundary that the waters cannot cross.
The waves may toss and roar,
    but they can never pass the boundaries I set.
23 But my people have stubborn and rebellious hearts.
    They have turned away and abandoned me.
24 They do not say from the heart,
    ‘Let us live in awe of the Lord our God,
for he gives us rain each spring and fall,
    assuring us of a harvest when the time is right.’
25 Your wickedness has deprived you of these wonderful blessings.
    Your sin has robbed you of all these good things.

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Footnotes

  1. 5:20 Hebrew to the house of Jacob. The names “Jacob” and “Israel” are often interchanged throughout the Old Testament, referring sometimes to the individual patriarch and sometimes to the nation.

Shouldn’t you fear me?

20 Declare this to the people of Jacob,
    announce it in Judah:
21 Listen, you foolish and senseless people,
    who have eyes but don’t see
        and ears but don’t hear.
22 Shouldn’t you fear me,
        declares the Lord,
    and tremble before me,
        the one who set the shoreline for the sea,
        an ancient boundary that it can’t pass?
Though its waves may rise and roar,
    they can’t pass the limits I have set.
23 And yet the people have stubborn and rebellious hearts;
    they turn and go their own way.
24 They don’t say in their hearts,
    Let’s fear the Lord our God,
        who provides rain in autumn and spring
        and who assures us of a harvest in its season.
25 Your wrongdoing has turned these blessings[a] away.
    Your sin has robbed you of good.

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 5:25 Heb lacks blessings.